MPLX Lp (MPLX) Q2 2026 Earnings Report, Transcript and Summary

Welcome to the MPLX Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. My name is Julie, and I will be your operator for today's call.[Operator Instructions] Please note that this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to [ Brian Worthington ]. Brian, you may begin.

Welcome to MPLX's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. The slides that accompany this call can be found on our website at mplx.com under the Investors tab. Joining me on the call today are Maryann Mannen, President and CEO; Kris Hagedorn, CFO; and other members of the executive team. We invite you to read the safe harbor statements on Slide 2. We will be making forward-looking statements today. Actual results may differ. Factors that could cause actual results to differ are included there as well as in our filings with the SEC. With that, I will turn the call over to Maryann.

Thanks, Brian. Good morning, and thank you for joining our call. Our second quarter results reflect the consistent execution of our strategic priorities. MPLX delivered $1.8 billion of adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter, a 5% increase versus the same period last year, more than overcoming the divestiture of the Rockies assets in late 2025. This enabled a return of over $1.1 billion to our unitholders. 2026 is also a year of execution. We continue to advance high-return projects across our integrated natural gas and NGL value chains. The sequencing of projects entering service gives us confidence in a meaningful increase in EBITDA in the second half of 2026 and next year. In the Delaware Basin, we placed the Secretariat I processing plant into service in April, and exited the quarter at 86% utilization of our Delaware Basin processing system, demonstrating strong producer demand and operational excellence from our teams. And in August, the Harmon Creek III processing plant is beginning operations in line with our strategy to add processing capacity on a just-in-time basis. This increases our total processing capacity to 8.1 billion cubic feet per day and deethanization capacity to over 800,000 barrels per day. This plant, along with our associated gathering and compression expansions, extends our ability to meet producer needs in liquids-rich areas and supports long-term throughput growth. As we expand MPLX's core value chains, we are also focused on maximizing utilization of existing assets and optimizing operations. In the Northeast, Marcellus processing utilization of 96% in the quarter led to record volumes across our system, while strong production activity in the Utica supported processing utilization of 73%. In the Permian, sour gas treating volumes exceeded 150 million cubic feet per day for the second consecutive quarter as we continue to optimize operations at our Titan treating facility. As throughputs increase across our gathering and processing assets and additional projects enter service in the second half of the year, MPLX remains positioned to deliver mid-single-digit adjusted EBITDA growth. Natural gas and NGL fundamentals remain robust. Creating compelling opportunities to support growing global demand for U.S. energy. When we allocate capital, we remain disciplined. There must be strong strategic fit, durable demand and compelling returns. MPLX is investing over 90% of its organic growth capital toward opportunities to meet growing natural gas and NGL infrastructure needs, leveraging our advantaged value chains. MPLX is increasing its 2026 capital spending outlook by $500 million to $2.9 billion. The increase primarily reflects the accelerated execution of our ongoing Gulf Coast fractionation project, pulling forward capital we previously expected to deploy in early '27. In July, the Blackcomb natural gas pipeline began commissioning activities. The JV partners continue to progress the pipeline as planned with Blackcomb expected to achieve full commercial service in the fourth quarter. Within our NGL value chain, the expansion of our BANGL Pipeline to 300,000 barrels per day is also expected online in the fourth quarter, providing critical takeaway capacity as in-basin NGL volumes grow. In the Permian's Delaware Basin, which continues to attract strong producer interest, our teams are working to complete the expansion of our sour gas treating system to over 400 million cubic feet per day. The expansion of this strategic growth platform remains on track to enter service at the end of the fourth quarter, and we anticipate volumes to ramp quickly, supporting our run rate expectations for 2027. With multiple investments transitioning from construction to operation this year, we are on track to deliver mid-single-digit adjusted EBITDA growth in 2026. While the year-over-year growth from '25 to '26 is more back half weighted, it also positions MPLX for strong adjusted EBITDA growth in 2027. Against the backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty, the strategic importance of U.S. energy infrastructure remains clear. Domestic and global demand for secure, reliable energy continues to grow. Additionally, international customers are increasingly turning to the United States as a preferred supplier. MPLX is well positioned to respond to our customers' requirements in this growing market. The construction of our Gulf Coast fractionation and export facilities continues to advance on schedule. We expect the first 150,000 barrel per day fractionator, the 400,000 barrel per day JV LPG export terminal and the associated purity pipeline to be in service in 2028, followed by the second 150,000 barrel per day fractionation in 2029. Our confidence in the volumes and utilization of our assets reinforces our expectation for durable cash flows that will support MPLX's continued growth. This positions MPLX to continue reinvesting in the business while supporting the annual distribution increases to unitholders. Now let me turn the call over to Chris to discuss our operational and financial results for the quarter.

Thank you, Maryann. Slide 8 outlines the second quarter operational and financial performance highlights for our Crude Oil and Products Logistics segment. Segment adjusted EBITDA increased $23 million when compared to the second quarter of 2025. The increase was primarily driven by higher rates across the business units and increased butane blending, partially offset by lower crude pipeline throughputs from planned MPC turnaround activity and the seasonality of planned maintenance and project spending, resulting in higher operating expenses. MPLX has been strategically investing in butane blending systems throughout our terminal and pipeline network over the past few years. These investments allowed MPLX to blend additional butane volumes and take advantage of strong commodity prices in the quarter, generating over $20 million of additional benefit versus the prior year. Pipeline volumes increased 4% year-over-year, primarily due to Marathon's planned refining turnaround activities in the Mid-Con region. Moving on to Slide 9. Segment adjusted EBITDA increased $62 million compared to the second quarter of 2025. The increase was primarily driven by increased volumes, including growth from equity affiliates and acquisitions, partially offset by the divestiture of our Rockies assets in 2025. Excluding the impact of the Rockies divestiture, segment adjusted EBITDA increased $99 million year-over-year. Gathering volumes were up 15% year-over-year, primarily from production growth in the Utica, Permian and Marcellus basins. Processing volumes increased 5% year-over-year, primarily due to increased production in the Marcellus and Permian basins. Marcellus processing utilization was 96% for the quarter, demonstrating the need for incremental capacity as Harmon Creek III is beginning operations in August. Total fractionation volumes increased 8% year-over-year, primarily due to increased production in the Marcellus. With the start-up of Secretariat 1 in April, volumes on the BANGL NGL pipeline increased to over 200,000 barrels per day in the second quarter, illustrating the strategic value of our integrated wellhead-to-water strategy. Sour gas treating volumes in the second quarter exceeded 150 million cubic feet per day as we continue to optimize operations at our Titan treating facility and expand its capacity to handle over 400 million cubic feet per day by the end of the fourth quarter. We are progressing construction of a natural gas pipeline connection to allow sweet gas from our Titan facility to feed into the Secretariat I processing plant. This highlights the value of our recently acquired Delaware Basin system. Beyond an increasing rig count in the U.S., MPLX is strategically positioned to support additional drilling activity by producer customers. In the Permian Basin, undeveloped acreage in Lea and Eddy Counties in New Mexico was recently leased by current producer customers. Roughly 40% of this acreage has volumes dedicated to our sour gas treating system, highlighting the geographic advantage of the Titan complex within the Delaware Basin, excuse me. Additionally, the state of Ohio recently awarded leases for undeveloped acreage in Belmont County. Nearly half of this land is also dedicated to MPLX, and we anticipate additional production in the wet gas window of the Utica will add to higher utilization of our gathering and processing assets in the region with limited capital outlay. Furthermore, growing production from the Utica has supported recent investments and expansions of MPLX pipeline and Ohio River terminals to serve increasing regional demand. This positions MPLX to continue reinvesting in the business while supporting annual distribution increases to unitholders. Now let me hand it back to Maryann for some concluding thoughts.

Thanks, Kris. Our base business is generating steady and durable growth. And the strategy we have executed over the last several years has positioned MPLX to continue delivering strong results. Through disciplined capital deployment and optimization of our integrated value chains, we have grown adjusted EBITDA, distributable cash flow and maintained a robust return profile. We are executing our long-term strategy with consistency and discipline.[Audio Gap] Strong financial foundation. This track record of execution has enabled us to increase our quarterly distribution by 12.5% in each of the last 2 years. We anticipate growing our distribution at this rate again in 2026 and in 2027. We expect to continue growing the distribution supported by durable cash flows, a strong balance sheet and visible growth. While we are delivering our strategic organic growth priorities, we will continue to evaluate inorganic opportunities as they arise to further expand our strategic value chains and grow cash flows. Underpinned by the optimization of our value chains and throughput ramp across new assets placed into service such as Secretariat I, Harmon Creek III and our sour gas treating operations, MPLX remains on track to deliver sequential growth throughout the year, culminating in mid-single-digit adjusted EBITDA growth in 2026. Now let me turn the call over to Brian.

Thanks, Maryann. As we open the call for your questions, ss a courtesy to our participants we ask to limit yourself to one question and a follow-up.If time permits we will be prompt for additional questions. We will now open the call to questions.

[Operator Instructions] [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from John Kay with Goldman Sachs.

I wanted to talk about the growth cadence for the year. I appreciate the color on the project ramp for second half and the comments around mid-single-digit EBITDA growth for the year. I think your original kind of comments for the year had been a little higher relative to the '25 growth rate. So I was just wondering if you can kind of talk through some of the puts and takes for the year overall and how to maybe bridge us to our exit rate into fourth quarter of this year.

[Audio Gap] BANGL at 250, and that will go to 300 by the end of the year. Third quarter, Harmon Creek III, as I mentioned, and that came online here just in the beginning of August. So we'll be ramping through that through the third quarter and into the fourth quarter. And then Bay Runner as well. That's the 2.6 Bcf natural gas supply to LNG facilities in Brownsville. And then fourth quarter, we've got Blackcomb. I mentioned that in my remarks, as you have already talked about. And then the ramping of the Titan facility, that's Delaware Basin sour gas back into the third quarter and then again in the fourth quarter as we reach the over 400 of processing capacity. So year-on-year, again, just reiterating, John, that does give us confidence that '26 growth will exceed that of '25. And frankly, as we think about the sequence, third quarter should be stronger than the second quarter and fourth should be stronger than the third as well. So certainly not trying to convey anything different than we have before. So if for some reason we have, I apologize for that, but we continue to see that growth as we have outlined. Let me pause and see if I've answered your question, John.

I appreciate all the walking through there. My second question is just on the new details on the frac timing and the CapEx pull forward. You guys talked about this a little bit, but maybe you can just walk through kind of some of the new timing expectations for the fracs and how to think about them coming online relative to the export dock and kind of how that's changed from prior.

Yes, certainly. So first and foremost, project remains on budget. So all we're doing here is pulling early spend that we had initiated or expected, excuse me, in 2027 into the back half of 2026. This gives us even higher degree of confidence in the completion on time and obviously gives us the potential for early, but certainly gives us confidence in on-time completion of the frac and the dock. We would expect both the frac and the dock to come online at the same time, but certainly, we would not have the frac come online ahead of the dock. So we have good confidence in the timing of this project, and we are confident in the fact that all of our assets, as we've been communicating, are full, and we're pleased around that. Shawn was just there a few weeks ago visiting the site. And so I thought I might let Shawn give you a little bit of color on how that project is progressing through a construction lens.

John, this is Shawn. As Maryann said, I happened to have a chance to be there just a few weeks ago. And as I stood there and saw the 60,000 barrel spheres being constructed and the 600,000 refrigerated tanks for the terminal being constructed, it really just reinforced exactly what Maryann said, the confidence that we'll be online in early 2028. In addition, I just want to say this, the level of safety that the entire team and the contractors are showing on the site is very visible, really proud of the team to make sure that's first and foremost.

That answers your question...

The next question comes from Manav Gupta with UBS.

I'm trying to get a little more details about the ramp and the completion at Titan and how the overall Permian gas situation is moving ahead with these new pipes opening up. If the Waha remains in the positive territory, you could see more NGLs come out of Permian, more gas come out of Permian. And if you could, that way, highlight your leverage to the entire Permian gas situation, especially the Titan project.

Certainly, and thanks for the question. So let me start, and then I'll pass to Greg to give you a little more color on the actual progress and details around Titan, and then Dave can give you some further insights into how we're seeing egress out of the Permian. Hopefully, you've heard we continue to operate the Delaware Basin Delaware Basin sour gas processing system well, a second consecutive quarter where we exceeded 150 a day, and we're continuing to optimize around that, obviously, looking for cost reductions. This was always intended to be an important platform for us for growth, and we continue to see that. And as you know, you may have heard, we had multiple producer customers expressing interest in the platform, and that obviously opens up opportunities for us to increase utilization. So pleased on current performance. Back half of the year, as I mentioned earlier, we'll see the escalation of those volumes. And let me pass it to Greg, and he can give you some additional color on how that's operating.

Thanks, Maryann. Manav, I'll just give a little bit of color around the Titan 2 expansion and associated projects and how this ties in. As Mary Anne mentioned, we are continuing to operate at a volume level near the capacity we have. And so we're focused on improving reliability, obviously focused on safety and also on the operating costs and the efficiency that we operate the system with. In terms of Titan 2, associated with Titan 2 and the actual amine treating capacity expansion, we're also building about 100 miles of pipeline, multiple compression station expansions to provide the hydraulic capacity to fill the plant. And we're also building a pipeline from Titan down to our Secretariat plant to be able to deliver sweet gas, as Maryann mentioned earlier. So we've got a couple of different connections, including the line to Secretariat into our existing legacy systems. So we truly are integrating the systems together. And one of the big benefits of this will be actually taking sweet gas to help fill our processing plants, which then in turn, help to fill our BANGL NGL system. We're on schedule and budget on those projects for fourth quarter delivery, including the new Titan expansion.

Manav, this is Dave. Maybe I'll touch on your last question is, do we believe there's incremental takeaway capacity needed for the Permian from a nat gas perspective? And the short answer is yes. We do believe that. As we all know, U.S. natural gas demand continues to be very strong, underpinned by not only LNG, but also by data center needs. So specifically in the Permian, if you just look June, July, we've seen over 1 Bcf a day of growth to nearly 25 Bcf a day of gas in the Permian. And that is forecasted to grow to 35 Bcf a day by 2030. So what we see from that forecast is that there is incremental takeaway capacity constraints anticipated in the future. As you know, we've been very active in numerous long-haul pipelines from Whistler to Matterhorn to Blackcomb and Eiger long-haul pipes out of the Permian, and that's providing over 11 Bcf a day of takeaway capacity. So even with that and with Blackcomb and Eiger coming online Eiger later this year, fourth quarter this year and Blackcomb second half of 2028, we still believe incremental takeaway capacity is needed. So I think as we look forward, you'll continue to see us evaluate and participate and deploy capital in incremental industry solutions to provide that long-haul takeaway capacity out of the Permian to the U.S. Gulf Coast. So hopefully, more to come.

I hope that addresses your question, Manav.

Absolutely. And a quick update of both Bay Runner Pipeline and the Bay Runner Twin pipeline, if there is any update over those 2 projects.

Manav, the first part of your message cut out. Could you ask the question again? We heard the back half, but would you be able to repeat it?

The Bay Runner pipeline and the Bay Runner Twin pipeline, if there is an update on those 2 projects?

Sure.

Yes, Manav, this is Dave again. So as we recently announced, actually both these projects are supporting our NextDecade LNG facility as they continue to announce their first 3 trains and the subsequent trains, we, along with our partners, have been executing our projects to supply just-in-time capital to support when those are coming online to support the gas to those. So Bay Runner and then now recently announced Bay Runner 2, which is the conversion from Rio Bravo. And as we do in all our projects, kind of what Shawn touched on earlier, we're always looking at ways to be the most capital efficient and schedule efficient as possible. So that conversion from Rio Bravo to Bay Runner Twin allows us to run it in the same in the same area and just be more effective and more efficient, and we'll bring that online just in time as we did with Bay Runner to support next decade LNG expansion capacity.

The next question comes from Jeremy Tonet with JPMorgan.

This is Francina on for Jeremy. I just wanted to dig a bit deeper on the inorganic opportunity set that you kind of finished off the prepared remarks with. Can you kind of describe the opportunity set that you have at hand? And in terms of the strategy itself, would you characterize that more as bolt-ons or a kind of renewed strategy for MPLX via M&A?

Yes, certainly. So when we think about inorganic opportunities, they need to fit our strategic intent. So you've heard us talk about wellhead to water. Dave just really shared with you our view on Permian egress. Our wellhead-to-water strategy continues to be a very solid platform for us for growth and opportunities longer term, particularly when you look at demand pool. I mentioned nat gas and NGL and frankly, the requirement for reliable, secure energy and the pool on U.S. So that's a place that we continue to lean in. Also, this needs to meet our hurdles, needs to be able to deliver our mid-teens returns and also has to ensure that we can deliver mid-single-digit growth year-on-year. So we're looking in those opportunities. And then also our JV partners, et cetera, as you've seen us take on Transaction BANGL would be a good example as we increased our ownership assets we know and fit very deeply into our long-term strategy. So hopefully, that's a helpful response to you as we think about where we would be leaning in strategic fit, nat gas NGL, our wellhead-to-water growth strategy, that's the places where we would be executing.

That's very helpful. And then just looking a bit deeper on kind of the capital allocation priorities, given the pretty robust book of projects coming online in '26 and '27 and the 12.5% kind of distribution increase remaining, how do you see those priorities maybe changing longer term as we exit '26 and into '27?

Thank you, Francina. Yes, what I would tell you is our capital allocation priorities are unchanged. So when we think about the way we allocate capital, first and foremost, it's maintaining that -- maintaining our assets and our current EBITDA level. Secondly, it goes to distribution growth, right? So we've consistently communicated this 12.5% that we anticipate in both '26 and '27. And next, it's growth. And that growth can come in the form of organic projects, some of the big ones that we've just went through and the continual evaluation of the inorganic opportunities that set in the basin. So hopefully, that's responsive to your question. But really, I would leave you with our capital allocation priorities are unchanged.

The last question comes from Burke Sansiviero with Wolfe Research.

Are you still targeting at least 1.3x coverage with the 2026 and '27 distribution growth plans? And can this be met solely with organic growth? Or is M&A required to get there?

Yes. Thank you. What I would tell you is absolutely, we continue to target our 1.3 coverage ratio for both '26 and '27 and frankly, beyond. What I would tell you is that from a capital perspective, we believe that our current organic plan gives us confidence -- we have confidence in maintaining that 1.3 coverage. We've talked about it a few times now on this call. It's the second half growth that is going to give us confidence in 1.26. And then frankly, entering 2027, we're going to have the platform to grow even more. So hopefully, that's responsive. Maryann, you may have something else.

Yes, Burke, I think Chris did it well. Just maybe to reiterate, when we think about 2027 today, as we sit here for all of the things, as Chris mentioned, when you look at the projects coming online that we've put capital to work in the third quarter and the fourth quarter, some of them continue to ramp into 2027 as well. We believe as we sit here today, 2027 growth we have in hand, so to speak, with all of the projects. Now that doesn't mean we're not going to -- that we'll stop looking. We'll continue to evaluate inorganic opportunities. But the goal of 1.3 coverage remains our objective. In 2027, we're not looking for inorganic M&A to be able to meet that. We'll continue to look for it, but we don't need it to meet 2027. We hope that helps.

And historically, the company has stated that they like the current MPC, MPLX structure and argued against the idea of MPC rolling up MPLX at some point. But MPC has outperformed MPLX by a significant amount year-to-date just with the favorable refining backdrop. It's been a pretty big relative move. So I just wanted to check if the relative performance of the 2 complexes has had any impact on how you're thinking about the affiliate relationship, whether that relates to a roll-up intercompany transactions or affiliate support.

Yes. No, thank you for the question. And of course, we are very glad to see that both MPC and MPLX continue to execute strategic priorities and optimize and execute in the manner in which we have shared -- we expect our performance. As it relates to the relationship between MPC and MPLX -- we do not see any reason to change that relationship. Right now, there is a tremendous amount of value that's created. As you look at the growth of MPLX year-on-year and the ability for us to continue to grow that distribution for our unitholders, it provides sound cash flow back to MPC. And that relationship creates value, we think, for both the MPLX unitholder and the MPC shareholders. So that is of importance. There is an important relationship and a strategic relationship between those 2 companies. So we do not see a reason to change that at this time. I hope that helps.

I'm showing no further questions.

Okay. Well, thank you for your interest in MPLX. Should you have more questions or want clarification on the topics discussed this morning, please contact us, and our team will be available to take your calls. Thank you for joining us today.

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